East Longmeadow native Nick Martinelli has spent the summer working out with his best friend Mark Richards. The two grew up together playing club soccer with Oakwood.

Richards recently committed to the University of Connecticut to play Division I soccer. Now it is Martinelli’s turn to make that leap, as he announced his commitment to the University of Massachusetts men’s soccer team.

“I’m excited,” Martinelli said. “It has been a dream of mine since I was little… It’s something that I’m really looking forward to over the next coming months.”

Martinelli will enter UMass as a sophomore, as he spent the past year playing Division III soccer with Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Wilbraham & Monson Academy alumnus recorded four assists as an outside back in his one season there.

Playing at Skidmore offered him an opportunity to acclimate himself to the college game. While Martinelli played at a top level of prep school soccer at Wilbraham & Monson, playing at Skidmore meant playing against bigger, stronger opponents.

“Even though it was D-III, it very much helped me out with learning the college game,” Martinelli said. “It’s a lot more physical. Guys are a lot larger than in high school, obviously.”

After his season at Skidmore, Martinelli had several Division I schools interested in adding him for the upcoming season. As a Division III athlete, he does not have to sit out a season when transferring schools. While Boston University and Syracuse University offered compelling opportunities for Martinelli, UMass was the right fit for him in the end.

“I just felt like I fit in with the coach,” Martinelli said. “I have a relationship with [UMass assistant coach] Devin O’Neill already. He saw me play when I was in high school, showed a lot of interest in me. I didn’t have to worry about, ‘Oh, is the coach going to not like how I play?’

“He told me as long as I worked hard and gave him all of my effort, I would have a good chance of helping the program out.”

Martinelli had the connection with O’Neill in part due to Wilbraham & Monson’s coach Gary Cook, who is a former UMass soccer player.

“I’m excited he will play for my former team,” Cook said in a press release. “In his time at the Academy, Nick was as fine a play-making outside back as anyone I've coached. He was composed on the ball and tactically sharp. I look forward to bringing the guys to Amherst to see him play.”

With UMass’s preseason trip to California coming up, Martinelli has a lot to look forward to as the fall approaches. But while he will be flying across the country to start the season, UMass’s proximity is one thing he valued when making his college decision. For his parents, it makes it a lot easier to watch the games.

“My parents are really excited,” Martinelli said. “Obviously as parents, they wanted to be able to go watch as many games as possible… They’ll get to go to most of my home games and even some of the road games as well.”